Running-gear for automobile vehicles.



C'. P GROS. RUNNING GEAR POR AUTOMOBILE VEHICLES APPLICATION E'ILBD MAY2, L910.

Patented Aug. M, 19M

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Be it known that ll, CLAUnnFnANQc/)Is Gros, citizen of the Frencli`Republic, rel siding atPuteaux, Department-'of the Seine in France, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in YRunning-Gears forAutomobile Vehicles; and l do hereby declare the following tov loel afull, clear,y and exact description of the invention, such as willenableothers skilled in the art to which it; appertainsl to make vanduse the. same.

This invention relates tov running gear for automobiles, and moreparticularly to automobiles having more than tour wheels.

The object of the invention is'td distribute the weight of the vehicleuniformly over a comparatively large-number of supporting points, andtofurnish a strong .yet ldexible suspension system for the axles, sothatall of the wheels will rest 4unidolrinly-.on the ground and adaptthemselvesreadily to all inequalities of the road.

l have illustrated my. improvements `as applied to a vehicle havingeight. wheels, but it should be understood that'the nurnber of wheelscan he variedwithout departing from the invention andl that lseveralfeatures of the construction can he used in otherapplications. A'

' r ln the-drawings, Figure 1 isialongitudinalelevation of the frame.provided -with its eight wheels.. Fig. 2 'isanfend elevation.v

Fig. 3 is an underneath plan view. Fig. 4

is a longitudinal section ci an endfoi a.

driving axle drawn to a larger scale.l Fig. 5 is a correspondinghorizontal section with the wheel deflected relatively to the axle.

l The vehicle treme erwer- Censiet' t tra'. longitudinal members Aunited byend ucross. members B and intermediate erom members, lB with .arecessed median platform C; a

cross member D arranged -at thel middle serves for fixing the stays athe ends of which terminate' at the .longitudinal members Ay therebysuitably strengthening the (frame. 'lhe eight wheels 'of the trarne aregrouped in fours; each lgroup comprises-'j a pair oit driving wheels Rand a pair oit support wheels RC The two axles of the same group areunited'on each side by a `lungitudinal support'F which is jointed atlisto a part rigid ,with a long spring F; each of thesel springsF` isconnected with the ltrame by a joint 'c orv it necessarybyalsuspensionjlink andthe other end is connected by a combination systemo twolinlrsjointed at Specification of Letters Patent. applicati@ ned maya, i910.serial no. stacco.

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spring This transverse spring, at the ends of which the ends of two longlongitudinal springs F thus terminate is able to are@ v right an' les ddto onelenld of a transverse Y' oscillate at its middle around a pivot 'el fixed to the extreme cross member.

lt will be understood that owing to this suspension of a group of fourWheels at each end of the frame great Hexibility of the joints isobtained; the wheels, while always resting on-the ground are able tofollow itsl inequalities without straining the' frame and the mechanicalparts of the vehicle orvfatiguing or causing inconvenience to the4passengers. yA constant and uniform distribution of the load over all.the points of support, however numerous these maybe, -is obtained;-

All the wheels of this eight-wheel vehicle mayl be deected in eitherdirection to a greater -orlessextent for steering; with'thisf.objecteach wheel, that is to say both the driving wheels R which arenearest to the center of theframe and the wheels R which are merelysupporting wheels and which are located' at the ends 'of the trame ismounted `ona spindle jointed to the endet-the axle proper H which isnxed.l The driving wheelsl are, however, steering' wheels also erpallywith the. tront-andfrear supporting eels. l v a At the ends of each .ofthe aXles,'f 'is-the verticalsteering pivot or the wheel spindle.

.The steering 'pivots of the twoextreme axles carry-'two arms g it; thearmsggaare connected one with the other by a' connect#l 1 ingrod i whileone of the arms k of a wheel R is eonnectediby a yconnectingrodq'awitharm 'le of the verticalpivot m of thel adjacent driving wheel R. 'llhearrangement is the same for the two ends of the frame;

on each side one` of theV connecting rods is prolonged to j as far as abalance beam two other rods jan angular displacement is imparted tothewheels on the othenside of the vehiclein such a manner that elght samedirection.` KThe lengths of the levers h and 7b of the various wheelsare such that the los wheelsare all displaced 'angularly in lthe 110spindles upon which the driving or support ing wheels rotate allconverge to the center of the curve to be traversed bv the vehicle,whatever .the variationsl of this curvature may be.

In What has been stated it has been assumed that the two middle pairs ofwheels were driving wheels but the number ofdriving wheels might beincreased and all eight wheels vmight be driving wheels. The axles. ofthe two extreme supportingv wheels are ordinary steering axles but theaxles of the driving wheels are both driving and steering axles. Figs. 4and 5 show, by way of example only, the manner in which the ends of thedriving axles can be combined.

The xed part H of the axle ends at each extremity in a hollow socket Ito which a box J in two parts is bolted; this box presents two verticalsockets g and g in line one with the other, which uide and support twotrunnions 7' T rigi with the horizontal stub shaft K which serves asaxis Yor socket VK and also the oscillation of the;

vertical pivots r and r 'take place on ball bearings. A packingm forminga good; joint arranged in a groove formed on the= periphery ofthe openpart of the box J. prevents the dust from penetrating to thel interiorof the joint of the said box J.

Fig. 4 shows the arm 7c mounted on thev 'square part m of the pivot 1"and at the extremity of this arm the connecting rod jis jointed.

other suitable motor.

I claim: j ,v 1. In running gear for vehicles, the combination of a.frame, a group of four wheels The shaft P ends in may be by means of anexplosion, electric or supporting the frame at each end, drivingmechanism connected only with the two inner pairs of wheels, the endpairs being.

merely supporting wheels, and a single manually operable mechanism tosteer all of the wheels from a common point.

2. In a running gear for vehicles, the combination of a frame, a pair ofaxles extending across the frame at each end of the same, wheels on saidaxles, a spring structuresupporting the framefrom each pair 'of axles asa unit, said spring structure comprising transverse springs pivoted tothe vehicle frame, and longitudinal springs connected at one end to thevehicle frame and at the other end to the extremities of said transversesprings, said longitudinal springs adapted to support the vehicle frameover said axles, and means to .drive said vehicle.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature,

in presence of two witnesses.

CLAUDE FRANQOIS GROS.

Witnesses: i

LoUIs Josera, H. G. Coxrr

